


Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

by wrendering



Series: Photographs [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Meet the Family, Meeting the Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23064610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrendering/pseuds/wrendering
Summary: Kakashi's nervous in a way that he's never been nervous before, and it has everything to do with the fact that he finally has to face the dreaded first dinner with his girlfriend's mother.Companion fic to Let Me Count the Ways, taking place after Chapter 9.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Original Character(s), Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Photographs [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1627630
Kudos: 34





	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

**Author's Note:**

> Who's ready for more Manami?

Tasting the broth, Saito Manami nodded to herself. As always, it was excellent, which was the only form of acceptable.

Satisfied with her work, she turned to the young woman beside her and continued her list of instructions, saying, “And don’t forget make sure that it’s the good quality tuna. Suzuki’s an honest man, but I’m afraid that his son’s getting some less than savory ideas in his head – you don’t know if he’s taking advantage of his father’s old age.”

“Yes, mother, I’ll make sure that it’s the right one.”

Though there was none of the usual argument in her daughter’s voice, Manami knew that she was still pouting. Masako only ever called her ‘mother’ when she was being playful or when she was holding a grudge, and after the thirty minute scolding she’d received, Manami was sure that it was the latter.

“It’s been days, Masako. You’ve had long enough to stew, so if you’re going to get into an argument with me you might as well do it now. We don’t want your Kakashi walking into a domestic cold war.”

Her eyesight as sharp as ever, Manami saw her daughter’s subtle preening at Kakashi being referred to as such. Still, Masako was stubborn in her pursuit of acting wronged.

“I _wasn’t_ stewing,” was Masako’s petulant reply, conveniently forgetting that she had given her mother a whole 48 hours of silent treatment. “And I’m _not_ gonna start shouting or anything. I just don’t understand why you made me sit seiza the whole time.”

“And _I_ don’t understand why you kept him a secret for a whole year, but neither of us can change that now.”

Dipping a spoon into the simmering liquid, she held it out to Masako. “Here. Tell me how you find it.” 

With a sigh, Masako accepted the peace offering, leaning forward and taking a sip. “Delicious as always, mom.”

Giving a pleased ‘hmph’, Manami covered the pot. “You should get going now. He’s going to be here in an hour, and I’ll still need to prep all the things you’ll pick up.”

As her daughter gave her a half-hearted salute, Manami turned back to the many tasks at hand.

_Now, where was I?_

* * *

Fingers twitching around the neatly wrapped gift, Kakashi stood in front of the door, schooling his face into one that he hoped radiated respect. It was precisely six o'clock; there was no question that he’d be anything but on time, since the whole thing was already fraught with tension. In fact, he had been waiting nearby for half an hour, just in case something happened.

Raising his hand to knock, his body finally betrayed him and sweat began to bead on his forehead.

This wasn’t something that he’d ever done before. How did people do this without obsessing over every word or facial expression? What if she started asking about marriage, or _kids_? Did her mother even like plums, or did he mishear her somehow?

Luckily, he was only left to panic for two-tenths of a second.

“Hey, you.” To his relief, it was Masako who greeted him. “Come in, mom’s in the kitchen.”

Before he bent down to remove his shoes, Kakashi handed her the carefully packed present of fruit, the one that he’d spent an inordinate amount of time agonizing over. And that wasn’t even getting into the stress it took to choose the packaging.

“Your mother told me that she likes plums,” he whispered. Why was he whispering?

“Loves them,” Masako said. “She’ll appreciate the gesture.”

Speaking of which...the woman whom he was so uncommonly anxious to please chose that moment to round the corner.

“Welcome, Kakashi.” Saito Manami said, wearing an apron and a smile. “I’m happy you could make it.”

“Hello.” Shit, what was he supposed to address her as? Just calling her Manami was disrespectful, and anything else was probably too much; Masako always said she wasn’t someone who enjoyed formalities. Hoping she didn’t catch his mental fumble, he took the box from Masako and held it out in front of him. “It’s nothing special, but I brought you something.”

Manami was cheerful and unrestrained in her thanks. “Well, thank you, that’s very thoughtful of you. Please, come in. Masako will take you into the dining room, and I’ll bring out the food in a few minutes.”

Relief did a little to loosen the tension in his body, but _only_ a little. “Thank you.”

She gave him a motherly pat on the shoulder and turned, presumably back to the kitchen, but not before giving him another warm smile. “Make yourself comfortable. And you needn’t worry about formalities; you can just call me Manami.”

Silent until now, Masako took his elbow and started to guide him deeper into the house. It was homely, and neat, but he couldn't really focus on the decor when the hypothetical pitfalls of the next few hours were at the forefront of his mind.

Once they were in the dining room, she gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. “Hey, that was pretty good. But now would be a good time to blink.”

Huh. Kakashi hadn’t even noticed that his eyes had been wide open since he'd arrived. Shit, he must’ve looked like one of the Aburame bugs the whole time he was talking.

“That’s…embarrassing.”

Masako took a furtive look around, then leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “It’s fine. There’s no need to be nervous.”

“Are you sure?” To underline his point, Kakashi lifted one of Masako’s hands; just as he’d suspected, the nails were bitten down to the quick. She was just as nervous as he was.

Yanking her hand back, Masako could only stick her tongue out at him. “Well, what am I supposed to say? We should both completely panic? Because that could happen, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. Just be yourself, she’ll love you.”

“Right, be myself, because that’s the best—” 

Kakashi’s snippy retort was cut off by the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway; immediately, his stress doubled.

 _It’ll be fine,_ he told himself as they sat down. _Just don’t do anything to mess it up._

* * *

The food was delicious, but that’s not what Manami was pleased about. Little by little, Masako’s young man had begun to relax over dinner. Talkative he would likely never be, but the three of them managed to keep up a pleasant conversation, punctuated with Masako’s occasional vocal mortification at the childhood stories Manami so loved.

“It's a parent's right to bring out the embarrassing stories, Masako. It's life's way for apologizing for all those times I had to show up to your principal's office.”

“Ugh, _mom._ ”

She noted with some satisfaction that Kakashi was neither arrogant nor a fool, traits that unfortunately afflicted a good too many people in the village; in fact, by the time they’d finished all the savory courses, Manami was feeling the beginnings of fondness.

“No, no, we’ll take the dishes. You’re our guest.”

As the two women went to the kitchen, bearing stacks of empty plates, Masako finally broached the as-till-now-unmentioned topic.

“So, what do you think of Kakashi?” She didn’t quite make eye contact when asking the question, a nervous holdover from childhood.

“I was already beginning to like him when he flattened a path to get to you in the hospital, Masako. But this dinner’s making me like him even more. Whatever his reputation is, he’s charming. And clever, too. And he’s kind…right?”

Sure, he was _nice,_ but Manami didn’t always trust the appearance of nice – she did, however, trust her daughter’s judgment, however bullheaded Masako could be sometimes.

“He is, mom. He’s all that and so much more. Wait until you get to know him better. He’s amazing.” As anyone in love would do, Masako basked in the compliments her partner received and offered more of her own.

The sincere, artless praise made Manami smile. “In that case, I look forward to knowing him better.”

Pointing to the desserts, she said, “Bring those out, I’ll just tidy up a little here.”

Now that she was certain that her mother was won over, Masako moved with her usual alacrity, almost bounding out into the hallway.

Laughing a little, Manami pulled up a chair, taking the opportunity to thumb through a magazine and relax. It was probably best for the both of them to have five minutes alone; for the first fifteen minutes of the meal Kakashi — the poor thing — looked like he had to manually remind himself to breathe.

After enough time had passed for couple to reassure each other that the dinner had gone well, Manami decided it was time to go back.

Though she intended to enter the dining room straightaway, Manami found herself lingering in the hallway, listening to the muffled voices; against her better judgment, she became wrapped up in her own thoughts.

They were a quiet couple, those two. A less understanding observer would call them reticent, but Manami knew enough to see just how fierce her daughter’s devotion was - it was evident in every smile, every look, the very real fear that Manami would see him as less than he was. Masako never did things by halves, and this relationship was no exception.

Kakashi was more difficult to read, but when one knew what to find…the adoration in his eyes when he gazed upon Masako was both soft and crystal clear. Soft, too, was the laugh that Masako drew out of him with a witty remark, and soft were the brief touches that they allowed themselves in her presence.

Beautiful, to be sure, but…it was sobering. This was no infatuation. 

Careful to file away this fear, Manami cleared her throat and opened the door, settling herself down again. “So, Kakashi. Masako told me you’re not that fond of sweet things, but is matcha alright? There’s fruit, if you want that instead.”

“Matcha’s fine, thank you.”

“Just let me know if you want anything else, okay? You know, when Masako was a child, she was so fussy that—”

“Mom!”

Entirely cognizant of the outrage on her daughter’s face, Manami blithely continued, “Masako. Anyway, when she was seven all she ate for _weeks_ at a time was—”

* * *

Even though Kakashi was far quieter than the Saito women, his departure left the house feeling a little emptier.

As their post-dinner ritual, mother and daughter sat in the living area, drinking tea and enjoying each other’s company for a little while before chores inevitably had to be done.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, right?” The young man had even said he was looking forward to the next time, almost completely unprompted.

So buoyed was Masako’s spirits at the successful dinner that she didn’t even make a sarcastic comment. “Yeah, that was pretty nice.”

“You should let him know that I was joking about the five grandchildren, by the way. Don’t want him to think that I’m angling to be some sort of despotic mother-in-law.”

At that last phrase, Masako choked, mid-sip. Even after she’d coughed up half of her drink, she didn’t reply.

Sighing, Manami put her cup down. “I’m guessing that the two of you haven’t talked about marriage yet?”

“I haven’t even thought about it,” Masako replied, dabbing at her damp shirt. “It’s only been a year. Things are fine the way they are.”

Pursing her lips, the older woman poured herself another cup, saying, “It’s just a thought. If things are fine as they are, then keep them as they are.”

“Do you think we should start talking about it soon? What if we don’t want to get married?”

Looking at her daughter, so stubborn, so grown-up, yet still ooking to her for guidance, Manami felt a spiked edge of melancholy. “Well, I never did any of that and it turned out fine. Getting married, not getting married, that’s for you to decide. _Both_ of you.”

A pause followed.

“So, I didn’t want to put him on the spot, but I heard that Hatake Touma is actually looking to settle down now, after thirty years of embarrassing his mother with those affairs. Does Kakashi talk to him at all? Do you think he could set us up?”

“ _Mom._ ”

“I'm just kidding, Masako. You know I’m far too busy for that.”

* * *

“Well, I’d better go and do the dishes before I lose the will to do it,” Masako said, after all the tea had been drained and the teasing had subsided. Collecting both their cups, she headed to the kitchen.

Humming an old lover’s ballad, Saito Manami closed her eyes, enjoying the quiet.

 _She chose well,_ she thought. _They’ll be happy._


End file.
